1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a combine having a crop moisture sensor that is mounted in the feederhouse of a combine for directing a moisture signal to a controller for controlling the harvesting speed of the combine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Agricultural combines are large machines that harvest, thresh, separate and clean an agricultural crop. The resulting clean grain is stored in a grain tank located on the combine. The clean grain can then be transported from the grain tank to a truck, grain cart or other receiving bin by an unloading auger.
A harvesting assembly located at the front of the combine harvests the crop. The harvested crop is directed to a feederhouse for delivering the harvested crop material to a threshing assembly. The threshing assembly may either be a conventional transverse threshing cylinder and concave, or a rotary threshing assembly.
Typically crop moisture sensors are used to detect the moisture of harvested grain. Capacitance crop moisture sensors have been located in the clean grain elevator, various clean grain augers or in the grain tank. In one proposed system a crop moisture sensor is mounted on a harvesting platform. Its moisture signal is used to control combine running speed, see Japanese Patent 5-20781 3A2. In another proposed embodiment the moisture sensor is mounted to the floor of a feederhouse, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,990.
It is an object of the present invention to locate a crop moisture sensor in the feederhouse that senses the moisture of the harvested crop for controlling the operations for an agricultural combine.
An agricultural combine is provided with a throughput control system which controls the harvesting speed of the combine in response to various inputs. One of the inputs to the throughput control system is a harvested crop moisture signal that is directed to the electronic controller of the throughput control system. The moisture signal is generated by a capacitance moisture sensor that is mounted on the feederhouse. The moisture sensor comes into operational contact with the harvested crop material as it passes through the feederhouse. The moisture signal reflects the moisture content of the harvested crop before it enters the threshing assembly. The moisture signal is directed to the electronic controller and can be used to modify the desired hydraulic pressure signal or the actual pressure signal, to thereby modify the harvesting speed of the combine.
Cumulatively or alternatively the moisture signal can be used to immediately change the speed of the combine if the moisture signal falls outside certain preset limits or the moisture is dramatically changed from previous moisture readings. For example, if the combine is entering a green weedy patch in the field, the moisture sensor would signal high moisture crop material, the controller in turn would immediately slow down the combine to better accommodate this heavy load. Similarly, as the combine passes out of this weedy patch the controller would automatically speed up the combine as the combine enters more normal crop conditions. As stated above, the moisture signal can be used to simply modify one of the hydraulic pressure signals and/or be used against moisture set points to override the normal throughput control using the actual hydraulic pressure of the variable torque sensing drive.